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D97. DISH
Bristol
Number "10" on exterior
c. 1740
H.: 1 7/8" (4.8 cm): Diam.: 13 1/8" (33.3 cm)
BODY CLAY: Medium-grained buff.
TIN GLAZE: Light bluish white with
brown speckling and tiny blow holes.
Somewhat runny and uneven on exterior.
Overall, excluding portion of footrim
edge.
SHAPE: Molded Shape between D
and E.
DECORATION: Painted. Castle or fort
on island with ships and figure-filled
rowboat. Land in foreground with
fence. Border composed of circle and
brown edge. Exterior bears number 10"
and double-stroke and leaf under rim
markings.
Ex colt.: Printed sticker "HHW/ number/104,'
with "104" written in ink.
1. Admiral Edward Vernon (1684 1757). Ray,
Warren, figs. 1-7, pp. 56-63; Archer, V&A,
no. B.11, col. pl. 48; Britton, Bristol, pp. 159-160,
no. 10.46, figs. 15-16.
2. Atkins, Exhibition (1993), no. 17.
3. Lipski and Archer, Dated Delftware, nos. 465-
468; Ray, Warren, pl. 25, nos. 63, 64; Austin,
Delft, no. 261.
4. Grigsby, Chipstone, no. 59; Ray, Warren,
pl. 10, no. 27, pp. 130 131. The corner ornament
of a 1740 London map of'the Itarbour Town and
Fort f Porto-Bello taken by Admiral Vernon Nov. 22d.
1739 includes four battleships matching those
from the Fort Chagres engraving (Colonial
Williamsburg collection, no. 1968-126).
This scene appears to be a simplified version of one in an elaborate 1740
engraving titled An exact Account of Vice Admiral Vernon's taking the Castle
& Town of
Chagre in ye West-Indies. One of the ships in the engraving closely matches
the
large vessel near the right on the dish. Also in the engraving is an exploding-
towered fort with an arched gate, a flag, and, in the foreground, a rowboat
with
figures differently posed from those on the dish shown here.
Two impressive delft dishes titled "The taking of CHAGRE in the West
Indies
by Admiral VERNON" closely imitate the engraving's detailed design and
are
attributed to Richard Frank's Redcliff Back pottery in Bristol. The dishes'
tower
is identified as having the "flag of Truce hung out by Span." Another
delft dish
depicts "A View of the Hot Well" (after a 1731 engraving) and shows
the Chagres
engraving's men-in-a-rowboat motif. That dish, inscribed "Is F' over
"1741/2,"
has under-rim markings and detailing of the water much like those on the
Long-
ridge dish. Although such initials and other criteria have led a group of
often
elegantly painted delftware pieces to be attributed to Joseph Flower,, the
asso-
ciation of the dish shown here with the group is tangential enough to preclude
confident attribution.
Another "10"-marked dish shows a different version of the exploding-tower
Chagres scene,' and several 1740 dated "powdered ground" plates,
like a flower
brick in this collection (no. D374), depict towered forts, somewhat similar
in
design to the structure on the Longridge dish, with flags and sailing ships.3
Scenes on some dishes depicting Vernon's victory at Portobello, Panama, have
been confused with views relating to Chagres.1

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